𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 ➶ 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢

t e n

Toni spared a glance at her schedule as she made her way to her next class, it had only been a few weeks since she started her second year and she still hadn't memorised her schedule. The door to her next class was left wide open indicating that most of the students were already seated. Her eyes moved from the ground to a pair of black thigh high boots. Moving up from long covered legs she was met with a daring bright red leather skirt. Before her scruitizing eyes could stare any further, the bell had rung frightening the pink haired girl.

Cheryl hadn't noticed the petite woman as she walked over to her desk, she hadn't even bothered to look up. A frown scrawled over Toni's face, it was unusual for the two not to at least greet one another with a smile. The brunette shook off the bad feeling, assuming the redhead had simply had a bad morning.

But as the class began, and Cheryl stood before them to begin her lecture on the upcoming end of term test, her brown eyes didn't once glance in her direction. When Toni raised her hand to answer a question, Cheryl would pick everyone but her as if she was dismissing her. As her professor began her usual venture around the room, checking over their work and giving them minor pointers to improve. She had completely swerved past Toni's desk as though she wasn't there.

It was at that exact moment the petite girl knew Cheryl was avoiding her. In a usual lesson - when the atmosphere in the classroom was normal - the redhead usually lingered over her shoulder, close enough for Toni to get a whiff of the dreamy perfume Cheryl wore everyday. The pink haired girl knew her professor secretly favoured her work to others, spewing multiple compliments when she'd finished reading her work.

That's why it hurt so much, watching her attention focus on everyone but her. As far as Toni knew, they ended things good with one another the night before. For Cheryl to be treating her differently now - it was out of character.

Dread slipped into her mind as she realised she still had to stay behind to complete her assignment, something that on a casual day she looked forward to. It felt strange peering towards the clock praying that the minutes dragged out for just a little longer. Toni wondered whether Cheryl would notice if she left with the other students, it wasn't like she'd acknowledged her presence at all. Why would she suddenly notice that she was gone now?

So when her class had ended, Toni gathered her things as quickly as the other students and attempted to slip out among the crowd.

"Antoinette." Cheryl called out, in a tone she'd never heard from the woman before.

As the brunette stopped, frozen on the spot she heard the murmurs of her fellow students wishing her luck. Cheryl was sitting against her desk, brown eyes boring into the petite girl as she stood nervously before the doorway. If Toni wasn't so nervous, she knew with no doubt she'd be turned on by the stern tone.

"Where do you think you're going?" Cheryl demanded, her eyes not once leaving her student. Toni toyed with the skin around her thumb as she cleared her throat, searching for an excuse, only to come up empty handed. "I don't clear out my schedule after class, just so you can waste my time."

Toni felt like a child being scolded, it was the first time since the two had met that the redhead was beginning to get on her nerves. It wasn't like she was the one with the problem here. Cheryl rolled her eyes when she received no response, yanking her laptop a little too roughly out of her purse and thrusting it towards Toni.

"If you need any assistance, you know what to do."

Cheryl spoke in a way that told Toni not to bother her, the way the woman sat down so heavily on her seat. Her fingers practically slamming down on the keyboard of her computer, the fixed glare that never seemed to soften. Toni had no intention of speaking up, knowing it would only lead to a potential snappy comment. The brunette sighed, loud enough for her professor to hear and moved to the furthest table.